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IMPROVING AIR QUALITY: OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS

With its proactive environmental policy, Renault is committed to protecting the ozone layer. Working closely with its suppliers, the Group leads an ambitious policy of reducing pollutant and toxic gas emissions. Major R&D efforts have been implemented to find alternative and sustainable solutions. 

Preserving air quality: Renault’s objectives 

 

Renault is committed to reducing the two main types of emissions from its industrial activities:

 

  • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), generated by solvents used in paint shops,
  • Nitrogen oxide (NOx) and VOCs emitted by engines.

 

Renault has two simultaneous objectives in terms of sustainable improving air quality:

 

  • Reduce by 10% VOC emissions in Renault sites between 2007 and 2012,
  • Meet the EU’s future Euro 6 standard across the range. More stringent than Euro 5, this standard targets a  further 50% reduction on carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (Hc), NOx and other particulate matter. The objective remain the same: reduce atmospheric pollution from road transport.

 

To this end, Renault has rolled out a long list of innovative actions in both the production and use of its vehicles.

Production: treat and reduce emissions of particulate matter 

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), generated by the solvents used in paint shops, are the number-one pollutant emission from Renault’s industrial activities. Thus the Group has long been focusing on two inter-related actions.

 

  • Reducing VOC emissions at the source: Technological innovations concerning paint application and the reduction of solvent use have considerably diminished VOC emissions. This is the case notably at the plants in Pitesti (Romania), Bursa (Turkey) and Valladolid (Spain).
  • Improving emission treatment procedures: More efficient incinerators and more modern facilities – like those in Maubeuge, France – were introduced for the launch of Kangoo.

 

In addition, the replacement of fuel-oil boilers by gas boilers in the last few years has enabled a significant reduction in the emissions of SO2 and NOx linked to combustion.

 

This set of actions has enabled the Group to reach its objectives.

Use: Priority on technological innovation 

Burning fuel in a car engine releases NOx and VOC molecules into the atmosphere. Exposed to sunlight, these gases create pollutant and toxic ozone.

 

This is why Renault leads an ambitious R&D policy to reduce these emissions in the vehicle use phase:

 

  • Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) reduces the formation of NOx during the combustion process.
  • The particulate filter eliminates carbon particulate matter from exhaust gas.
  • The catalytic converter, on gasoline vehicles, reduces the concentration of CO and NOx in exhaust gas by 99%.
  • The NOx Trap, a chemical process that captures harmful nitrogen oxides,